At many illness conditions it is of importance to be able to show the presence or absence of a certain substance/compound in a body liquid in order to be able to provide an accurate medication.
Such an illness is diabetes where modern insulin preparations require measurement of the blood sugar concentration, glucose concentration, in order to provide for an accurate dosage of insulin in connection with e.g., a meal, before going to bed, physical activity etc., the so called personal cheque of blood glucose.
As measurement takes place on the same place every time there is often used a relatively stationary device for the determination of e.g., glucose concentration, whereby one using a mini cyvette collects a blood drip, and introduces the cyvette in a device wherein the determination is made by analysing the product. At certain determinations a chemical reaction takes place in the cyvette whereupon the reaction product is determined.
However, there is often a demand for carrying out a determination under other different situations such as when out travelling, at the office, i.e., at different places during the day, whereby one needs a portable device for such determination.
EP 0 738 666 (=U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,410) describes such a device comprising a rotating magazine containing a number of test electrodes/mini cyvettes, which rotate into position one after the other as need occurs. When measurement is to take place a test electrode is moved forward and out off the device, absorbency of a sample takes place, whereupon the test electrode is reintroduced into the device and measurement takes place, whereby the result is presented digitally on an electronic screen. After finished measurement the test electrode is thrown away out off the device. A magazine contains a number of test electrodes/mini cyvettes sufficient for the need during some days.
A similar device is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,266 whereby there is a difference in the mechanical feeding of the magazine.
Both devices show a drawback in that the test electrode/mini cyvette is thrown away after reading, which means a great risk for spreading of infections to the surroundings of body liquid worn diseases such as HIV. The problem with the reminding product is that it can land up anywhere as one throws out the test electrode.
One object of the present invention is thus to obtain a device which minimises this risk and reduces the amount of rest waste and packing.